Sable Princess
by Nafyla
Summary: Seven years after the Reset and a new threat hangs over Hyrule. "You must be the one. You are the only one capable of accessing the Goddesses powers and working alongside the Sages. It must be you." That's what the Great fairy told him, but...Link's friends are disappearing one by one! Looks like he'll have to make some new ones if he wants to save them and the land!
1. Prologue

**A/N- So, woot! Here we are at the start of my very first fan fiction!^^ Super excited! But enough about that!**

**I'd like to go ahead and let everyone know that I'll be keeping in canon (for the most part) for both the Ocarina of Time and the Majora's Mask story lines. However, please go ahead and expect inconsistencies, as I have changed a few things here and there to help the flow of ****_this_**** story. Also, as this takes place years after both OoT and MM, I had a little fun and decided to make up OCs and Places. Sorry bout that...**

**One final thing! I do NOT own any of this! All Legend of Zelda references belong solely to Nintendo (and Miyamoto-san maybe?)**

Sable Princess

A Legend of Zelda Fan-fiction

Part I: Stolen Time

Prologue

It's been seven years since Link, the chosen Hero of Time, saved the land of Hyrule from the evil machinations of Ganondorf. He was a boy of mysterious birth, raised as a Kokiri—forest guardians—by the great Deku Tree. With the help of a few friends, this young boy traversed both the land and time itself to save their world. And even realms. For at the end of all that, a dear friend was lost to him. In search of Navi, the fairy companion the Deku Tree had granted him, Link also aided the land of Termina; saving it from the peril of having the moon fall—caused by a possessed imp. Now, although his search still continues, he's taking a much needed break; hanging out with his closest friends, swimming at Lake Hylia.

"Jeez Link! It was your idea to come here. Get your tights-wearing ass in the water already!"

Link cocked an eyebrow in the direction of the water. He grinned at the sound of such language coming from someone who's supposed to be the most ladylike and up-standing of them all.

"Well, excuse me, your High-ass! You know, you really should watch your language. You know as well as I do that Impa is hiding behind the lab. If she hears you talking like that…"

"I know," Zelda sighed. "She'll go on and on and on…"

"Yup. And then where would we be? I'll tell you where—not swimming."

"Stuff it, Link! Just hurry up!"

"I'll get in after you tell me what you have against my tights!"

"Never. Haha!"

Link smiled and turned back to what he'd been doing before Zelda had so crudely interrupted. He was giving Epona a brush down after removing her saddle. He reached to grab the brush from off her back and it wasn't there. Thinking it must have fallen off, he started to search the ground when he heard a familiar giggle behind him and off to the right. Not showing that he'd heard, he continued to pretend to look around, and then he quickly turned and pounced through a nearby bush and into a startled redhead. "Malon, you minx!" roared Link. "Thought you could pull one over on me, did you?!"

"Yup!...ha. And for…a minute there….ha…I did! Haha," came a breathless reply from beneath him. Link laughed. "One of these days, girlie, you'll see. You're gonna get some major payback for all the pranks you try to pull."

"Never doubted that. Just never cared enough to stop!"

"Well, try not to involve us innocent victims when revenge comes callin'. Alright?"

"Innocent?" spoke a small voice from the side, "One wouldn't really think that of you, would they Link? Especially not right now! I do believe you're crushing poor Malon."

Link quickly rolled off Malon and looked over at his oldest and dearest friend. As always, something deep in his chest clinched at the sight of her. What that 'something' was, he'd rather not dwell too much on. Unlike the rest of the gang, Saria didn't age. It caused Link no small amount of grief to know that Saria was often envious over the fact that she didn't change, didn't grow. To know that when other people saw them, they wondered why she was the only 'child' among the group. But, again, Link tried not to dwell too much on it.

"Aww…that was mean Ria! How could you ever think that someone with this face was anything but innocent," he gave her his best deku shrub impersonation.

She pursed her lips at him and stared in obvious disbelief. Link pouted his lips out even further. As he watched, her face scrunched up and she burst out laughing," Oh! Hahaha! If you could see yourself! You could probably hook a new record over at the Fishing Hole with that. And _fo_r the record, I remember deku scrubs very well! Hardly innocent, you idiot! Haha."

"Ouch! That was below the belt Ria. Comparing my lips to bait, and worse, my whole face to scrubs! Aren't you supposed to be a wise and compassionate Sage? Hardly Sagy!"

"Oh, I'm Sage enough. To _innocent_ creatures of the Forest…not tights-wearing scamps!"

Link grinned, and then did a double take. "Hey! Seriously, what's the deal with my tights?!"

At this, the girls fell over laughing, and Link swore he could hear Zelda mutter smartly, "Just give it up. Those tights. Ha!"

Feigning indignity, Link hopped to his feet and started to huff away, but he turned and caught Saria and Malon about their waists and ran into the water. He lugged it five feet in and dumped them unceremoniously on top of Zelda, and all three went under. When they came up sputtering, Link stood above them arms akimbo, and smirked, "There! That'll teach you girls to mess with my tights!"

Zelda shrugged," Yea, sure. But it got you in the water didn't it!?"

"Ah!...um," he stuttered.

Not having a comeback to that, he just huffed and looked away. The girls laughed.


	2. There's One Missing

**A/N- Right..._' Sorry for such a short prologue...**

**Warning: So, although I did start this story off on a rather light hearted and almost fluffy note, please take note that this chapter will get fairly gruesome. I wonder if I should change the genre per chapter? Well, either way, you ****_have_**** been warned. **

**Please continue and enjoy (or not)! Read and Review! ^^'**

**One last thing. I don NOT own any of this. All Legend of Zelda references belong solely to Nintendo ( and Miyamoto-san maybe?)**

Sable Princess

A Legend of Zelda Fan-fiction

Part I: Stolen Time

Chapter One: There's One Missing

The sun was just cresting the sky and Link, Zelda, Malon, and Saria were having fun tossing each other about in the crystal clear water of Lake Hylia. Link was having a blast picking them up one by one to throw off the bridge linking the small temple island to the lab house on shore. It was Zelda's turn just now. Link caught her about the waist and hauled her onto the island. "Link! I swear, if you toss me over your shoulders like a sack of potatoes again, I'll banish your ass," huffed Zelda right before he could do it.

"Come on Zee! You take all the fun right out of it!"

"I don't care. You shall carry me like the lady I am."

"Right. Got'cha…"grinning, Link swooped down and stuck his head between her knees.

"Link! What are you—Oh! Aaeiiiiiiiii!"

Link lifted her chicken-fight style and took off running. Shrieking the whole time, Zelda clung for dear life to his head. Mid-way between the island and the lab, Link hoisted one of her legs up and over his shoulder and tossed her, screaming, into the water. Seconds later she bobbed to the surface, face red with indignant fury. "Link! You insufferable dimwit! Just _what_ part of any of that had any semblance to you treating me like a lady!?"

"Well," he smirked," I know a princess who demanded I once carry her like that. I just thought that if it was good enough for her…"

Link paused. He looked towards the far shore of the Lake. Just there, not far from the scare-crow's fields, was an underwater tunnel that linked Lake Hylia to Zora's Domain. "Speaking of which," he contemplated," Ruto was supposed to be here by now."

"Yea." Zelda's fury was forgotten. "What do you think is holding her up? She's usually the first one here when we come swimming."

"Maybe," Malon inserted," she's having trouble with something? After all, she's the queen now."

Saria piped in," That's right! She was telling us how Lord Jabu-Jabu's been having spells of some sort here of late. Do you think that might be it?"

Zelda shrugged, " It can't just be that she's the queen. I mean, I am now too, but there are still plenty of ways to make time for fun with you guys. Unless it was something truly urgent. As for Lord Jabu-Jabu, I don't think he's been alright at all since the Lost Years."

"Why since then?" Malon asked.

"Well, being a guardian deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu might have some remembrance of what happened to him after Ganondorf appeared. So, although the memories should have disappeared when I reset time, fragments might have remained. Who knows what happened to him? I thought it the first time I saw him after everything was over—his mind wasn't all there anymore. I wanted to say something, but Ruto was just so happy to have him back…"

"I can imagine so," sighed Saria," We Kokiri were devastated when the Great Deku Tree died. We didn't know what we were going to do without him, but then the Deku Sprout appeared. Losing a guardian deity is hard, so if another one shows up or the original returns, the sense of relief and hope makes it hard to think that something could possibly be wrong."

"Yes." Zelda nodded," Which is why I chose not to say anything."

Link winced inwardly thinking about the Great Deku Tree. It still plagued him sometimes that he'd been too late to stop him from dying. Although the Great Deku Tree had not blamed Link, he couldn't help blaming himself every now and then. That was another matter at the moment though.

"Maybe I should pop over there to see what's up?" Link speculated. "I'll be back in a few, okay?"

The three girls nodded consent and sent him off with a chorus of good lucks.

Running to the end of the rope bridge, Link vaulted the railing and dove into the water near the tunnel. Coming up once for a quick gasp of air, he thanked the Fishing Hole once again for the Golden Scale, which allowed the one possessing it to dive to depths they normally couldn't, which made it easy to reach the tunnel and swim on through. The light receded quickly and an instant later he felt himself rising out of the other side, into Zora's Domain.

Zora's Domain was one of the most beautiful places Link had ever encountered. With twisting walkways and hollowed out abodes, glistening walls and ceilings, and an enormous waterfall that fell into a clear pool that took up most of the lower area, Link thought the place a small paradise. He'd even seen it encased in ice. Now that the evil that had turned it into a frozen tomb was gone, he could even admit that it had been beautiful in its own way as such. He'd never say that out loud, of course, and he still preferred to see the swift, sleek, free flowing movements of the Zorans swimming beneath the water. It was one of his favorite pass-times to visit here, don the shape-shifting Zora's Mask and play water tag with a few of his Zoran friends here. _Maybe I can get in a quick game before going back, _he thought to himself.

He was almost to the surface when a hazy cloud of red interrupted his vision. He emerged blinking, unable to see for a few seconds. When he could finally see, he opened his eyes expecting to see a familiar scene. What he got was total chaos.

"He's been gone awfully long," Malon quipped for the umpteenth time.

The girls were sitting above the tunnel, dangling their feet in the water. They'd spent a few minutes playing around after Link had left, but when he'd been gone for longer than the 'few' he'd said, they decided to move closer to the tunnel just in case. With each passing minute their worry increased, and Malon had been vocal about it for the last fifteen or so. Zelda was about ready to have a hernia. She loved Malon, really, but if she said that one more time…At least Saria was taking it in stride and waiting patiently, quietly. Still, Link had been gone awfully long.

"Maybe I should go see what's keeping him?"

"If you're going, then so am I," declared Malon.

Saria softly splashed water onto the two of them," Guys…This is Link. Regardless of what, if anything, was wrong, don't you think he could handle it? He's only been gone half an hour. It's longer than what he said, yes, but maybe he got caught up playing water tag. You guys know how much he likes to play that."

"Yea…," they chorus," but…what if that isn't it?"

Saria shook her head in slight exasperation. To tell the truth, she was just as worried as they were, but she believed in Link to be able to handle himself, and she really didn't want to think that anything could be so wrong with the Zorans.

"How 'bout this," she said," we wait just a while longer, give it a full hour, and if he isn't back by then, we all go have a look. Is that acceptable?"

Malon and Zelda's faces lit up. They gave each other a look and then nodded. "You are always the one with the most sense, Saria. What would we do without you?" Zelda wondered. She reached out to either side of her and clasped Malon and Saria's hands.

"Well," Saria giggled," I am technically the oldest." She gave Zelda's hand a soft squeeze.

"Just think girls, between Saria's knowledge, Zelda's political pull, and my pranking expertise, we could handle anything anybody threw at us, or rule the world!" Malon gave her best evil chortle.

The three of them fell over laughing at this, temporarily forgetting their worry. They passed the next half hour chatting easily about various ways to take over, or just prank the whole world, but again Malon became vocal about her worry.

"He's been gone awfully long. Has it been an hour yet?"

Saria sighed heavily," Yes, Malon, it has. You two ready to go?"

"You know it!" Zelda growled.

Zelda asked the other two to wait as she let Impa know what was going on, and, much as she had expected, Impa insisted on coming along. So the four of them jumped into the water. As none of them had Scales to help them dive deep enough, Zelda, Saria, and Impa used just a bit of their Sage Powers to form an air pocket around them all. It sank slowly towards the bottom where the entrance to the tunnel was, but just before they were about to reach it, air bubbles surfaced from the opening in front of them. Moments later, Link came into view and began to rise rapidly. The girls sighed in relief, and Saria popped the pocket, which allowed them to surface quickly in pursuit.

When they bobbed back to the surface, Link spun around at the noise and caught sight of them. He rushed to help them out of the water.

"Where were you guys? Why is Impa with you?" Links voice was hurried and had a panicky edge to it. Zelda explained what was going on, with Malon throwing in her two cents, as fast as she could. When she finished, Link expelled all his breath in one giant sigh and sat down hard on the ground. He pulled his knees up and rested his elbows on them, ran his hands through his hair and hung his head.

"What's wrong, Link?" Saria knelt down beside him and rubbed his shoulder.

He raised his head and looked at each of them in turn with sadness etched on his face.

"Zora's Domain has been attacked."

"What?!" They all asked at once.

Link told them to get comfortable and started in on his tale. "When I got there…"

Link could finally see. He opened his eyes expecting to see familiar scenery, and had to blink several times before it set in. Zora's Domain was in total chaos. The pool of water was hazy with patches of red, the walls had giant craters gouged out of them everywhere, and huge slabs of earth were imbedded all throughout the place. The waterfall, which used to fall uninterrupted, was broken here and there by them. Link started to swim for the shore, but stopped when he heard a soft cry off to the right of him. He turned quickly and had to flinch at what he saw. A Zoran child was floating face down in the water and blood was flowing profusely from a gaping hole that encompassed the child's neck and tiny left shoulder. Link hurried to the child and gently tried to staunch the flow of his blood. Unable to do so, he gently hauled the child to shore. He turned the child onto his back and tried again, but scant seconds later realized the child was already gone.

With tears forming in his eyes, Link took a look around for others. Now that he was on shore, he could see several bodies, children and adults alike, floating in the water and scattered around on the ground. He spent several minutes towing those in the water out, and then checking all around him for signs of life. Less than half of those he found were still alive, and some of those were just barely so. By the time he'd finished checking on everyone, those less damaged were rousing, waking with stunned and dazed faces. He rushed about for a couple of minutes gathering those waking up and bringing them water and patching up their lighter injuries. By the time he'd gotten everyone awake and alert, he had decided it was time to move on from the lower floor and check out the rest of the place. Just as he set off for the steps an adult male voice called out to him," Link! Wait. Some of us can help."

Link turned to the newcomer and recognized him. "Rulen!?"

"Yup! Not just me either!" He tossed his head over his left shoulder and Link saw more familiar faces. Three other adult male Zorans were jogging their way over to Link and Rulen.

"Ralen! Rolen! Marik! Where have you guys been?!" Link called out.

Link was truly happy and relieved to see the four of them. Rulen, Ralen, and Rolen were triplets who were all ranking officers in the Zoran Guard, a small but elite Zoran police force. Marik was an apprentice, still going through the long and vigorous training school those who wanted to become a Guard had to graduate from, but he was the top of his class and had excellent simulation scores. Things would get sorted out a lot faster with them helping out.

Rulen, being highest authority, answered Link's question," We just returned from a routine border patrol. Marik met us when we were just about halfway back and told us that home was under attack. We rushed back here as quickly as we could, but whatever or whoever attacked us was just leaving. It had Her Highness Ruto. We tried to give chase, but the damn thing was like quicksilver and we lost sight of it just at the edge of Hyrule Field. I've sent the rest of those who were with us to continue the search and came back here to help the people..."

Link was stupefied. Shocked really. Zorans were fast, even on land, and even more especially if they were Guard members. That something could get away from them—then it registered.

He clasped Rulen's shoulder in a death grip and asked in a confused tone, "Ruto?!...You said...you said that that…_thing? It has Ruto?!_" Links voice had risen with each word and Ruto's name came out a growling shout. Rulen winced and just hung his head. Link continued to stare at Rulen as the silence lengthened. It was Ralen who finally spoke up.

"We were after them for hours before we decided to split the group, and as soon as we've assured the safety of our people you'd best believe we'll be right out there again. This thing will _not_ get away with this. We _will_ find our Queen and bring her back! Without fail!" He walked up to Link and pried his hands from Rulen, forcing Link to face him, and a hard look came over his face as he asked Link in a choked but fierce voice, " For this…Link will you help us now? The four of us can't manage this place quickly by ourselves, and your strength would be an invaluable asset in the search for Her Highness. Please, Link, for now…get a grip and help us."

Link was stunned by Ralen's words. Zoran Guards didn't ask for help from just anybody. Despite the fact that Link was friends with both the previous and currant Zoran Rulers, the Guard had never asked for his help with any of the numerous struggles they'd had since the Reset. That Ralen was asking him for help with such sincerity gave Link a glimpse of the caliber of enemy they faced and that snapped him out of his confusion.

"Right. Sorry I lost it there for a moment," Link had the grace to flush slightly, then he pulled Ralen in to a one armed headlock and grinned," but did you really have to ask?"

Link turned and apologized to Rulen and the tension left the group. Link asked a few more details about the chase and then bowed his head to think. _We need a plan of action. _He turned a full circle taking in everything at once and then called the gang to attention.

"Here's what we do. Rulen, you take the second floor. Ralen and Rolen, you get the back ways. Check everywhere for survivors, they take priority. If you find any, bring them down here for medical assistance. If you don't, then bring the dead here for clean-up. Marik, you stay here to administer first aid and comfort, but first, run quick to see if the doctor's alive. If he is, bring him back with you, and in either case bring as many supplies as you can. Grab food too. Everyone report back here in half an hour."

The four nodded and Marik, Rolen, and Ralen headed off. Rulen asked what Link was gonna do.

"I'm gonna head up to the throne room to check on the previous King and search for survivors there." Satisfied with that, Rulen ran off, leaving Link to his task. Link jogged up the ramp and took the back stairs two at a time and came blasting into the throne room.

The damage here wasn't as severe as it was on the lower floors, but it was still a mess. The platform that guest stood on to address the Zoran Ruler was in shambles, with chunks of it scattered all the way to the entrance to the top of the waterfall. The stairs around to the right that lead up to the throne, and then to Lord Jabu-Jabu's Lake, had slices missing, as if someone had taken a giant knife and cut out pieces of them like cake. The gilded gate to the sides of the throne was bent in on itself and pieces of the walls were gouged out here as well. Link took it all in in a flash. The previous King was nowhere to be found. He ran down the waterfall tunnel to check it out. He found two more dead and one just still unconscious. He carried the survivor back down to Marik and discovered that the doctor had lived as well. Leaving them with well wishes, he headed back up to the throne room and up the stairs that lead to Lord Jabu-Jabu. Footsteps splashing loudly with his haste, he headed out and booked it to the feeding platform.

Lord Jabu-Jabu was flailing about in the water. He was zooming about in all directions, as if madness had come over him, just barely turning in time to avoid a collision with the walls bordering his haven. Not knowing what to do about the giant fish at the moment, he left him for later and resumed his search for Ruto's father and others. He found nothing around the platform so he headed around the huge rock formation the separated the majority of the lake from a small waterhole on the right side that could be used to access the Great Fairy's Fountain located along the back right wall. He ran inside and checked the small area with a quick glance. Seeing no one around he turned to leave but stopped himself as an idea hit him. He ran up to the symbol of the Royal Family and pulled out his Ocarina. Calming down, he played the first song he'd ever learned. The flowing notes of Zelda's Lullaby filled the small space and echoed harmoniously and, just as the last note faded away, booming female laughter replaced it. Link watched, as always, with excitement as the Great Fairy grew from nothing and ended as a large, beautiful, pink-haired woman hovering just above the pure water of the fountain.

"Link," she greeted him," it has been a while. I am glad you came."

"Lady. It's good to see you as well, but I'm sorry, I need your help and quickly."

"Yes. I know why you have come. Though I am physically bound to this fountain, I see many things of the outside world. Zora's Domain has been attacked and you search for survivors now."

"Can you tell me who did this?!"

"Unfortunately, no, I cannot. The evil that has done this is beyond my sight. It has even curtained the location of Queen Ruto, Sage of Water, from me."

"Damn! Ah—sorry!" Link glanced in apprehension at her.

"I feel the sentiment as well…" the fairy smirked at him. "Still, we must try to watch our language, no?

"Sorry. I will. Umm…do you know how it got in? I mean, it isn't exactly easy to get by that waterfall outside the front entrance, and I've been at Lake Hylia since early this morning, so they couldn't have used the tunnel there."

"I cannot tell you how, but they came in the front entrance."

Link brooded over this in silence and then looked back to the fairy to ask his next question. The words caught in his throat at the look on The Great Fairy's face. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration, and a glazed, far-away look was in her eyes. Light perspiration beaded along her temples, her breath was held, and the room began to grow hot. The temperature continued to spike rapidly and the ground underneath Link's feet began to quiver. Just as Link began to think he might need to put on his heat resistant Red Tunic, the fairy's breath left her in a great expulsion, and the room was back to normal instantaneously. Link gave it a few seconds and looked about him in curiosity. Nothing was out of place, as if it had never even happened.

"Okay…" he quirked, "what just happened?"

"Forgive me for not warning you," asserted the fairy," but I was doing several things at once, which required much more effort than I am used to exerting. Before you ask what, I was warning my fellow Great Fairies about this new evil, ascertaining the affliction our Lord Jabu-Jabu suffers of, and locating the remaining lost surviving Zorans. You must hurry now. Firstly, you must calm Lord Jabu-Jabu down. I do not know why, but guardian deities have an increased adverse reaction to this new evil than they did to even Ganondorf. As soon as you can, you may want to check on our Deku Sapling. That is for later though. You must put Lord Jabu-Jabu to sleep. A lullaby should do the trick. Secondly, the hidden tunnel just outside this cave, do you know of it?"

"Yes. I found it back when I was searching for Golden Skulltulas to break the Spider Family's curse."

"Good. You'll find the previous King there, as well as several other Zorans. Thirdly, you must quickly return to Queen Zelda, Sage of Time, and warn her of this. I do not know why, but I have a feeling the Sages will need your help once again."

With a panicked look, Link asked," Should I leave now? Are they okay?"

"Calm yourself. They are fine. Right now, the Zorans need you to help them and you must settle them before they work themselves into a state of discord. Tell your friends not to chase this evil just yet. The Zoran people need figures of authority now, and, truthfully, even the Guard cannot handle this. _You_ must be the one. You are the only one capable of accessing and using the Goddesses powers and working alongside the Sages. Do what I have said to start with. Keep faith in your friends, and may the Goddesses watch over you."

With these parting words, the Great Fairy gave her booming laugh and disappeared back into the fountain waters.

Link gathered his thoughts and reviewed his new information for a moment. _Right. I'll finish up here and then get the girls somewhere safe. Then I'll call a conference of the Sages and let them all know what's happened._ With his thoughts sorted, Link headed outside and swerved to the left and sprinted back to the feeding platform. He ran right up to the edge and pulled out his Ocarina once again. Thanking providence and the Goddesses for his time spent in Termina, he played the Goron's Lullaby. The soothing notes filled his ears and settled over him with a sense of lethargy. As always, he had some trouble staying awake himself. When the notes had drifted off, he waited for Lord Jabu-Jabu to come to a stop and fall asleep. For a full minute he waited, and nothing happened. Another minute went by and still nothing changed. Lord Jabu-Jabu was still rampaging about. He tried the lullaby again, waited even longer, and…nothing.

Becoming irked, Linked wondered why it wasn't working. He played Zelda's Lullaby as well, just for good measure and the off chance that it would work. Nothing. He played every Kokiri lullaby he could remember. Not even a wink.

"Argh! What's the deal!? Damn it! Why isn't this working?"

He flopped down cross-legged. He sat there watching Lord Jabu-Jabu bound back and forth across the lake. He even shouted at him…_Hey. Wait. That could be it. _Jumping back to his feet, he shouted at the top of his lungs. The sound was loud around him but dissipated quickly under the frothing noise the errant fish was making. "Of course!" Link triumphed.

This time he pulled out the transforming Deku Mask and donned it. After a brief spasm of searing pain, his mind pulled back together and where his body had been before stood a miniscule deku shrub. Preparing to play once more, he pulled out his instrument. Only this time, instead of an ocarina, large pipes came to his call. It should've been obvious to him from the start, the Ocarina wasn't loud enough to reach Lord Jabu-Jabu, but these pipes could be heard across great distances.

He again played the Goron's Lullaby, and watched as the magic of the song became instantly effective. Lord Jabu-Jabu's crazed movements slowed, and then gradually stopped. His body slowly sank beneath the water and air bubbles could be seen surfacing periodically out on the water. Glad that that was over with, Link put his pipes away and removed the Deku Mask. Another swift moment of pain and he was back to his original form. He immediately took off for the hidden path to the right of the Great Fairy's cave. Once inside he dashed up the stairs and found a group of Zorans huddled together at the top. Among them was the King, just as the fairy had said. Relief swept through him as Link hurried over to them. Taking care not to startle them too badly, he called out softly, "Hey. Is everyone alright here?"

With a collective cringe and gasp, they quickly turned to see who had come upon them, and a collective sigh could be heard as they realized who it was. Stepping around them with care, Link made his way to Ruto's father, who was unconscious, and checked him quickly for wounds. He had a broken left arm and a fairly deep laceration on his back, but was otherwise unharmed. He organized the group quickly and got the lot of them back to Marik and the doctor with relative quickness, just as the thirty minute time limit he'd set was ending. He lay the king down on a cot the doctor had spread for him and sat beside it.

"How's it look, doc?" he asked tiredly.

The doctor glanced up from checking on the king and sighed," Are you asking about the King or everything else?"

"Both works."

"The King will be just fine after I set his arm and close the cut on his back, as long as infection doesn't set in. I have medicine for that for now, but it may run out soon at the rate I have to use it, so I was hoping to send someone over to the lab at Lake Hylia to get more. Would it be safe?"

"I'll be heading that way soon myself; I'll bring Marik along and watch things till he gets back safe."

"Thanks. As for the others…We haven't found everyone, about three of us are still missing, and no one can find them."

"I'll run a quick sweep outside with Rulen, they could be out there."

"Right. Of those accounted for, thirty-seven are dead." The doctor's voice choked up and he had to take a deep breath to continue." Six are critically injured and will die without constant observation, and proper medical care, which I don't have the supplies for."

"Can Marik grab some while he's at the Lake?"

"Yes, but it needs to happen soon."

"As soon as I can get things organized here I'll be going."

"In that case…all the others left alive are only minimally injured and will get better with a few bandages and rest. However, I fear the damage runs deeper than the physical."

Link whispered," Yea…something like this…how would you get past the heartbreak? I can't even imagine having to tell anyone about their dead friends and family, let alone thirty-seven 'any ones'."

The doctor's head dipped and his hands quit moving. Link saw tears dripping from his chin and had to hold back tears of his own as he placed a hand on the doc's shoulder and said, "I'm so sorry doctor. I wish I had gotten here sooner."

The doctor shook himself and wiped at his eyes. "No boy. Don't take this on yourself. You've helped out plenty and will continue to do so, I imagine. Losing all these friends…and my daughter…it isn't any fault of yours." He caught Link's eyes with his own and held them. "Don't go belittling the good you've done with wishes for better. Things happen as the Goddesses will it, and they willed you to be the support that gets us through. That's damned good enough for me."

With that said, the doctor stood and went to check on his next patient. Standing up as well, Link paced over to Rulen and called the other three over to join them. He gave a summary of what the Great Fairy had told him, leaving out the bit about the Sages and such. They balked at not being able to go after Ruto, but Link convinced them to heed the fairy's words. He then told them all that the doctor had told him and Rulen agreed to searching outside for the last three unaccounted for, as well as Marik travelling to get needed supplies.

Rulen and Link found only one of the missing Zorans outside the entrance, even after checking and re-checking every nook and cranny from the waterfall out to the exit to Hyrule Field. An adult female, she had a bad contusion to the head, but was uninjured elsewhere. They rushed her to the doctor and watched until the doc gave them the clear for her life. Link walked a quick patrol, checking on everyone once again, and then headed back to the doctor.

"Hey doc. Is there anyone awake and um…feeling well enough who could tell me what happened here, from the beginning?"

"Yes there is. If you'll gather Rulen and the rest of the Guard, and Marik, over to the side there, I'll be there momentarily to tell you all I saw."

Link's eyebrows hitched up his forehead. "You saw everything?"

"That I did. From the moment the bastard showed up."

"Right then. We'll be just over there then."

Link followed the doc's instructions and the five of them waited to learn exactly what had happened. They only had to wait a few seconds before the doctor joined them and sat down heavily. He sighed and removed his gloves and glanced up at them. "Take a seat."

"I'll say this first," he began," I'd really like to say this as quickly as possible and get back to my patients. For the sake of that, I'd appreciated it you'd let me say all I'm going to before you ask any questions you might have. Is that alright with all of you?"

The five nodded once.

"In that case…It happened sometime between 8 and 9'oclock this morning. I'm not sure on the exact time because it had been some time since I had last seen a clock. My daughter, Sarine, and I were down by the entrance chatting with our neighbors. It was only about 20 minutes that we'd been there when a loud rumbling began on the other side of the falls. I saw a black light and a stream of water blasted through the door. Our neighbors were thrown down into the pool and clear of the blast that followed. My daughter…took a direct hit, and I was thrown down a side passage. That is what saved my life, but my daughter…After the blast, a cloaked… It… walked through the entrance as if it owned the place. I can't tell you want species or race, or even what gender, it was. All I can tell you about it is that it seemed to be enveloped in a black cloud and it moved strangely. It was graceful, like some sleek predator, but static at the same time. It would jerk one way and glide before jerking in another direction."

Shaking his head at the memory of the Thing's strangeness, the doctor shifted position and then began again.

"Anyways, it came in and immediately began attacking. That same black light formed around its hands and something like a beam of light would shoot out. It was indiscriminant, like it wasn't aiming for anything or anyone in particular, just everything. As for the slabs of rocks in the walls, It used some sort of telekinesis to pick up chunks that had fallen from the walls or ceiling and just threw them at random. I don't know how many people died in that initial attack. After it had spent several minutes here on the lower floors, it moved on to the upper floors and did much of the same. I found Marik there trying to save a couple that some rocks had fallen on. I helped him get them out and then told him to run and get the Guard. After that I followed after…It. I knew I couldn't do anything against it so I just wanted to see if I could find out if it had a purpose. I hid as best as I could to watch. By the time it arrived at the throne room, the King and all the attendants were nowhere to be seen, but Queen Ruto was there. She fought it."

The doctor took a quick breath before continuing," Really; our Queen is an amazing person. She gave it quite the fight, and was holding her own, maybe even gaining the upper hand. But…Just then a piece of the ceiling fell. No one noticed it till it was too late. It hit Her Highness squarely on the head and knocked her unconscious. Before she could even hit the ground, it had snatched her up and headed back down to the pool. I followed as fast as I could, but still missed about a minute of what happened. When I finally caught up, it was blasting around with its beam again. It kept that up for about two more minutes, and then it spotted me. It tried to blast me but I dove out of the way. I was caught in the radius though and got blown against the wall. I hit my head fairly hard. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was it leaving with Her Highness. Next thing I knew, Marik here was shaking me awake. You know the rest."

Silence ran through the group for a few heart beats. The doctor's words hung heavy in the air. His tale had only left more confusion on the faces of his audience, and none of them could even begin to guess the reason as to why all of this had happened.

"The only thing I can gather from its behavior," the doctor sighed," was that its purpose was simply to wreak as much havoc as it could in a short amount of time and to kidnap the Queen."

Link was appalled at what he'd just heard. How could one creature have caused so much damage in so little time? Just what was it? What was its purpose? He ran through the story over and over in his head trying to make heads-or-tails of it and find some clue as to what they were dealing with. Nothing came to him. He'd never seen such a thing. Never even _heard_ of such a thing. Once more he replayed the story in his mind. His mind caught on something and a small chill ran over his spine.

"Hey doc," he puzzled, "That black light you saw it use. Could you tell me more about it?"

"What else is there? It was just a black light," the doctor shrugged.

"Well…What about its shape? Did it have a definite shape? Maybe it was round, or square, or flat? Something around those lines?"

"Hmmmm…well, if I had to give it a shape, it'd be a cylinder. It shot out from its hands, but was flat against them. When it hit the walls though, it sort of burst."

"Alright. How 'bout it's density? Could you see through it, or was it solid looking?"

"The outer rim was sort of lighter, but it was definitely solid."

"What about the size?"

"It was fairly large, about this big around," the doc held up his hands and used them to show a circle about a foot wide in diameter.

"Right…"

Link's chill crept back again, only larger. Certain thoughts had formed in his head over what the doctor had described to him and he didn't like there direction one bit. _From the sound of it…no, that line of thinking will just give me even more of a headache; which I _really_ don't need right now._ He put those thoughts aside for now and stood up. The other's followed suit. Dusting off his clothes he told Marik to get ready to go and make sure he had what he needed to carry everything the doctor would need. Then he turned to Rulen. "I'm getting worried for the girls, so I'm gonna head on back through the tunnel. I'll wait by the shore, so just send Marik on through would you?"

"Sure thing, Link."

"Also, make sure to get word to the rest of the Guard to come on back."

"Link…" Rulen balked, "I know what the Great Fairy told you, but I still want some of our guys out on the search. I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Rulen, look, I know how you feel, really, but not listening to the Great Fairy is a big mistake. Don't you think that, more than we ever could, she would know what to do in times like this one?"

"Yes, but—"

"Okay. Look, I'm not saying 'do nothing'. Hear me out on this. You bring your guys back, use the Guard's full force to get things as back to normal as possible here, and then organize. Get ready for anything that may come up."

"What do you mean by 'anything coming up'?"

"You know," Link muttered, "Zelda is waiting on me back at Lake Hylia. She's the Queen of all Hyrule, ya know? While this may be a Zoran matter for now, the Zorans have always been friends with the Royal Family, and, you have to admit, her resources are far more...err…ranged than yours."

"Yes. And?"

"Just give me a little while to discuss this with her and figure out a course of action. You and the Guard stay here and get ready for when we have new information on where Ruto might be. Instead of exhausting yourselves searching with no leads, save your energy to be used when and where it will count the most."

Rulen paused a moment; thinking it over, and then nodded, "Okay. You're right on this account. I'll bring the rest of the Guard home and we'll wait, but Link…We won't wait forever, so don't take too long, okay?"

"You got it," Link said and nodded.

The two of them shook hands and said their goodbyes. Link then turned to Ralen and Rolen in turn and did the same. With a last lite wave of his hand, Link ran and dove into the water and swam for the tunnel back to Lake Hylia. With his thought on getting back to his friends and seeing them well, he propelled himself through the dark shaft as swiftly as he could.

Similar faces of horror were displayed in a loose semi-circle around Link as he finished up his tale. Dazed and confused; Zelda, Impa, Malon, and Saria found it hard—very hard—to believe what they'd just been told. Link took a breath to let it soak in, feeling for them, because even though he'd been there and seen the reality of it, he couldn't quite believe it either.

"When I got back here," he carried on, "and didn't see you guys right away, I thought the worst for a moment and was just about to lose it again. Luckily, you popped out of the water then."

"Now I get why you seemed so on edge," hedged Saria.

"Yea. I was real close to falling. I was seriously scared for a second there," Link chuckled; trying to lighten the mood at least a little.

"So…" questioned Malon, "Why were you so interested in the beam?"

"Hmmm," Zelda speculated, "I think I might know why."

Link sucked in his breath. "Don't say it!" he shouted.

"But, Link, it really sounds close to my—"

"No," Link interrupted, "I thought the same, Zee, but I'm real uncomfortable with saying it out loud. It's bound to give us all an unnecessary headache!"

Saria and Impa nodded in agreement. Being Sages also, they knew full well where that sentence was headed. The thought alone was terrifying, and they had the feeling that hearing it said would confirm it. If there was something out there that could use that ability; and on a much larger scale it seemed…Someone who was using it for evil purposes. Someone who had already devastated an entire village, and kidnapped a powerful Sage. The implications were too vast to contemplate.

Malon eyed each of them in turn and felt frustrated. Yes, she knew they weren't intentionally excluding her, but it still sucked to be the only one not knowing what was going on. "C'mon guys!" she whined, "at least give me something. It sucks being left out of the know!"

Saria apologized, "Sorry, Malon, really. We don't mean to leave you out, but I'm honestly too nervous to say it. It's too terrible."

"Yes," Impa concurred, "Such a thing would best be left unsaid; however, as Malon is a very trustworthy and close friend of ours…I think it's only right that we do tell her."

Link groaned, "Oh, alright! I'll tell her." He turned to face her and explained, "So, you know I'm the Hero of Time and that Saria, Impa, and Zelda are all Sages, yes? Well, there are actually other sages. Seven of them all together. Six of them are guardians of natural elements. Rauru, the Light Sage. Saria, the Forest Sage. Darunia, a goron, the Fire Sage. Ruto, the Water Sage. Impa, the Shadow Sage. Noburu, the Spirit Sage. The last Sage, Zelda, who is the leader over the others, is the Time Sage."

"Yeah." Malon shrugged. "I've sorta already guessed that those other guys were sages as well; seeing as you guys are always keeping in touch. You all have the same…I don't know…aura, maybe? What does that have to do with all this though?"

"Hold on…I'm getting there. Sages, as you know, have certain powers, usually corresponding with whatever element they preside over. Zelda, however, is a bit special. Along with her powers over time, she has something of a special…super power. This power is something of a last resort, as it's specifically geared towards evil. It will only work on evil, or at least it's _supposed_ to only work on evil. We really haven't had many chances to experiment and test out its full scope. In any case, the thing about all of this is that the beam that Doc described that thing using sounds uncomfortably close to this super power Zelda has. The only differences I've noticed so far are the color and usage. Zelda's beam is a pale golden light and she can't—that we know if—use it so…arbitrarily."

"So…it's bad?" Malon enquired.

"Yes. It's bad. Very much so…Let me put it more into perspective for you. This is the power Zelda used to hold down Ganon so I could deliver the final blow when we fought to save the world. At the time it took almost all of her effort to do, but this thing can use something very similar at will, on a much larger scale, with seemingly no effort at all. Does that help? Can you see now why this would make the rest of us uneasy?"

Malon had to take a moment to digest the significance of Link's last words. She wasn't involved so deeply with what had happened during Ganondorf's take-over. Sure, she'd suffered under the thumb of Ingo, a sniveling, conniving man who her father had hired as the foreman of their dairy ranch; but she had barely left the ranch during those years. She had very little knowledge of the world at that time. The only reason she even remembered it after the Reset was because Link had had Zelda give her the memories so she could be included in the group. Link and the gang had told her bits and pieces of what they'd had to do to beat Ganondorf, but she'd never really understood all that other-worldly mess. She thought back over all that they had told her and added this new information to try and grasp the situation fully.

"I still don't really get a lot about it. Magic hasn't ever been my interest, and this is all very magicky…but… I do understand why this would be scary. I also know that I want to more fully understand the whole of it, so, Link, one of these days you really have got to have a pow-wow with me. I'm you guy's friend, so I really want to know, and I want to hear all sides of it. Not right now of course, but soon—would it be okay if all of you Sages and you, Link, came and spent some time at my house telling stories?" Malon glanced at the faces of her friends around her.

Zelda reached out and flicked Malon's forehead. "What are you being so formal about, Red? Something like that…you don't even need to ask!"

"Yeah!" Saria reiterated. "You know we'd love to tell you alllllll the gory details!"

"Haaa," sighed Impa, "and they do get gory don't they? You guys have it easier though…at least the things you all have jurisdiction over are alive. I'm in charge of the dead. It doesn't get gorier than that."

"You think you have it bad?!" Link protested, "I had to run around for all of you guys, dealing with plants trying to eat me, and fire breathing lizards, and slimy jellyfish that tried to electrocute me, and warrior skeletons, and creepy, sand-surfing cacti that chased me everywhere! And that's just to start with!"

Zelda, Saria, and Impa stared at Link in surprise. They shared a look between themselves and then glanced back at Link, and then they all turned to Malon and said in unison, "Whiney isn't he?" And they all burst into giggles. Link scoffed at them and stood, brushing the back of his pants off, "Yea, yea…Laugh at the good guy! Whiney or not, you guys know it's true! Humph!"

The rest of the group got to their feet as well and stretched their limbs out. They puttered about gathering all their things together while musing over a good time to have a huge sleep-over at Malon's. They all refrained from mentioning anything about the day's events, knowing that the time for light-heartedness was almost over and that things were going to get—and stay—serious very soon. All too soon though, their things were gathered and they were almost ready to go.

Link looked around for Epona but couldn't see her. Not worrying too much about it, he pulled out his Ocarina and played her favorite song. She would always come running from wherever she was when she heard that song, and it didn't disappoint. As the last note faded, Link could hear galloping hooves coming ever closer. Epona pulled to a sliding stop just a few feet in front of Link and waited patiently for anything Link might need her for. Link threw her saddle over her back and clinched it into place before checking all his bags and deciding that everything was in order for them to leave.

Grabbing the reins, he turned to face the gang. They were standing in a close semi-circle, waiting for Link to tell them what he planned to do from then on. Link paced to a stop before them and took a deep breath. "Alright then. Are we all ready?" Everyone nodded in accordance. Link faced Malon firstly and said, "Hey Red, do you think Talon would mind looking after Epona for a little while?"

"No, he wouldn't mind, but…why?"

"I wanna call a conference of Sages together. For that we need to all get to the Temple of Time quickly, so I'm going to warp us all there. Normally, Ria, Impa, and Zee would get themselves there and I'd get myself there all on our own, but I want to include you in this, so I'll get their help and just warp us all at once. So I'm gonna have to leave Epona here. Once we get to the Temple, I'll run out and get a guard to take a message to your dad to pick her up and look after her."

"Okay. I get that…but still, why? Don't you always leave her to look after herself?"

"Ahh. Yea. Normally I would, but I've had her stolen from me too many times to feel comfortable leaving her with a new unknown threat on the loose."

"Oh. Yea, you're right. Sorry, I didn't think of that."

"It's all good," Link grinned and then turned to Zelda, "We can include Malon in this…right?"

Zelda nodded, "Yup! I'd already planned on it! Why do you need us to warp with you though?"

"Well, I'm going to be using the Prelude to warp us, but normally that would only work for the one playing the song. To get the magic of the song to recognize that I want to warp more than just myself, and then to identify all of those I want to warp, I'll need you guys to help by…hmmm…pushing a bit of your power into the notes and then into all of us, but most especially Malon."

"Ehh," Malon sputtered, "P-push what…into what?! And w-why especially me?!"

"Clam down, Red!" Link chuckled. "It's not like anything you're thinking. All that's gonna happen is the rest of us are going to push a little of our power into you. It won't affect you at all, and at most you'll feel something like a tingle up your arm. All it does is mark you for recognition. Okay?"

"…Okay. If you say that's all, but you still haven't told me why 'especially' me."

"I say 'especially' you because you're the only one with no power here. The Songs of Power I use are made geared towards power users, so people with powers are more easily noticed than those without. So Zelda, Saria, Impa, and I only need just a bit of each other's power as something like identification, but you'll need enough so that the song's power will be fooled into thinking you have power as well…get it?"

"Not at all!"

"Jeez…"

"Don't worry about it Fairyboy. That's how I dealt with it. If you say it needs to be done, then I'm gonna trust you and just go along with it."

Link gaped at her and then hung his head with an exasperated and resigned sigh. Seriously, Malon could try the patience of molasses, and she was too naïve for her own good. It was fine just then, surrounded by friends who'd never let anything hurt her, but one of these days, Link worried that she'd try her air-headed approach to life around the wrong sort of people and land herself in real trouble.

"…Fine. I'll save the lesson for a better time. For now, all that's left is to wait on Marik and then help him with his supply run. Until then I want you girls to wait in the lab, okay?"

The girls agreed and headed inside to wait, leaving Link outside. Link trudged over to the same place that Zelda, Saria, and Malon had waited for him at and leaned against one of the columns there to wait on Marik. He stood there, with his thoughts scrambling around and vying for first place in his head. He was trying to think over everything at once and couldn't settle his trepidation over the things still unknown to him. He was so into his brooding, that he didn't notice the dark that suddenly loomed over him until a disembodied arm entered his field of vision and waved around. Startled, he quickly jumped back, but his foot caught on the column and he went sprawling to the ground.

Deep laughter filled Links ears and he looked up to see that it was Marik, laughing heartily at Link's discomposure. With a chuckle still in his voice Marik held out his hand to help Link up and said, "It's not often someone can surprise you so badly Link! I'm lucky it was me this time. Woo…the way your feet flew up was sooo funny." The laughter died quickly as a shadow fell over Marik's face, "It's too bad that I know what you were thinking about to make you so out of it."

"Yea," Link grasped Marik's hand and accepted the help back to his feet. "You bring all you need to get supplies?"

"Sure thing. That's what took me so long to get here. Doc had me check over things three times before he was satisfied that I had everything right."

"Ha…well, being thorough is a good thing for a doctor I guess. C'mon, the girls are waiting in the lab for us. We'll all help you get the things you need so you can get back quick like."

"Much appreciated!" Marik grinned and the two of them turned and jogged swiftly up the hill and around to the front door.

Upon entering, Link felt a tingle run up his neck. There was something about the lab that always got to Link in some strange way. Maybe it was the sterile smell, or the unknown contents of the many jars lining the walls, but Link suspected that it was all really just the only resident. The old guy was just too creepy for words. Rather short, pale, and emaciated, with trembling limbs and big, dark circled eyes; he looked like he never ate, slept, or went outside. And he liked frogs…Every time Link met him, he'd remember how the guy's eyes had bulged and lit-up when Link brought a frog to him. Link had been on a side trip trying to get the Big Goron Sword fixed at the time, and he'd brought the frog here so he could get some eye-drops made. The old creep had wanted to eat it.

A shudder went through Link's body. He really found the guy creepy, but the guy had helped him out numerous times. Link knew he was a good guy and liked him well enough to just keep his slight distaste for his weirdness to himself. Still, he tried not to stick around him longer than necessary.

With the six of them working under the supervision—loud, obnoxious supervision—of the old guy, it was quick work getting all the supplies Marik had come for packed and ready for the return trip. Marik was gonna have to travel across Hyrule Field to get back so as to not get the medicine wet trying to go through the tunnel. Link hadn't thought about that at all, and so had to change his plans again. After some discussion with the girls, he decided that Zelda, Saria, and Impa would go ahead to the Temple and call the other Sages to join them and then wait on Link and Malon. In the meantime, Malon would ride Epona and go with Link and Marik, making a quick pit-stop off at Lon Lon Ranch. They'd drop off Epona there and have a quick talk with Talon, then carry on—on foot. Malon and Link would see Marik to Zora's Domain safely and then make their way on to Castle Town and meet everyone at the Temple of Time. Doing things this way would take longer, but ensure everyone's safety, which was their main concern. Everyone helped finish packing up the last of Marik's bags then bustled out the door, throwing good-byes over their shoulders.


	3. Poker and Stew

**A/N- So...Sorry but this chapter is significantly shorter than the first. A few of them here and there will be, so please forgive that. Most chapters will be decently long though so...yea. Also, I was reading through and noticed a few typos and grammatical mistakes. I'll be fixing the one's I noticed, but if you see any more, please let me know. I don't have a beta so I have to fix all that myself.**

**One last thing. I do NOT own any of this. All Legend of Zelda references belong solely to Nintendo (and Miyamoto maybe?)**

Chapter Two: Poker and Stew

They gathered in a circle a few feet from the lab and went over their plans once more. With everyone satisfied with what they were supposed to do, Zelda, Saria, and Impa backed several feet from everyone else and clasped hands. Three distinct colors formed as halos of light around their bodies. Saria was bathed in a soft, deep forest green. Zelda was covered by a pale but bright golden yellow. Impa was coated in an intense, vivid violet. The colors merged where their hands gripped together, creating rich, mixed pigments between them. The halos grew brighter with light and expanded, mixing all together until there was only one larger sphere of colors surrounding them.

Marik and Malon had to cover their eyes to shield against the ever brightening lights, but Link kept his eyes on them. He'd resolved that he would keep his friends safe, and he wasn't going to let them out of sight until he was sure that everything had gone right and they were headed to a safe place. He wasn't about to lose any more friends, and he was definitely going to get the one that had been taken back. So, even though his eyes stung and burned, he watched until the lights flared greatly once and then disappeared, taking the girls with them. He closed his eyes then and nodded to himself.

Whirling back to Malon and Marik, he told them they could look again. He had to blink several times to get his eyes working correctly again, but once they were he asked the other two if they were set to go. He glanced back towards Lake Hylia one last time, lamenting for the peace and fun they'd been having just a few short hours ago. Sighing, he pulled himself together and said, "Let's go then."

"Just a moment," Malon hummed, and then she took a deep breath and sang out Epona's Song. Link closed his eyes and listened. He loved hearing Malon sing. He'd never heard anyone with a better voice than hers. Clear and ringing, it flowed forth and resonated with emotions, spilling into Link's ears and sinking into his heart. Malon's voice always had the same effect on anyone who heard it, regardless of species or race. He opened his eyes to watch her, but stopped at the look on Marik's face instead.

He had the look of someone who was enthralled. He was focus on Malon with such intensity Link was surprised that she wasn't burning up. His cheeks were flushed and his hands were trembling, and his heart was plain in his eyes.

Link knew it. No one could resist Malon's voice, and it looked like Marik was no exception.

_Hmmm…this will be an interesting trip_, Link thought to himself.

Malon was just finishing up her song and Epona came trotting over to her. Malon expertly hopped into the saddle and quickly settled herself. Grabbing the reins, she steered Epona into a tight turn to face the pass leading out to Hyrule Field. Looking down at Link she nodded her readiness and nudged Epona into a slow walk. Link followed after. They had made it several feet before Link noticed that Marik wasn't following them. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Marik was gazing after Malon in a daze, still standing in the same place.

"Oi! Marik!" Link called out, "You planning on standing there the rest of the day. C'mon already, it's a long way back to Zora's Domain."

Marik jumped. He looked around himself in confusion for a couple of seconds and then shook himself. He ran to catch up with Malon and Link and then smiled up at Malon.

"You have the prettiest voice I've ever heard. Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Malon giggled, "My mom taught me a little bit before she died, when I was a kid. The rest was self-taught. My dad, bless him, tried to help, but he sounds worse than a drowning cat when he sings…poor thing. Haha, you should have heard him. I was set back years just trying to get him to stop helping. Although I think that may have hurt his feelings a bit."

"Well, you're a great teacher too. I've never heard anyone sing like that, and us Zorans are quite the singers, ya know! I'm sorry about your mom though. How old were you when she died?"

"Thank you. Mom died when I was seven. It was right after she started teaching me to sing. I don't really remember as much about her as I'd like to, but I'll always remember our singing lessons. Her voice was the prettiest. I'll never be able to hold a candle to her singing, but I think I can try for a close second, haha. Dad won't ever talk about her, except for very rare times when he'll slip up and say something without thinking about it. I love those times…"

"Hmmm…do you…maybe, wanna tell me some of them?"

"Sure! I'd love too."

Link, who'd only been paying half attention to their conversation before, tuned in more closely. He'd heard some of these stories, but he still loved hearing them; Malon would get so excited telling them, and Link liked seeing her face light up.

"The first time it happened," Malon started, "was around my first time in the saddle. I was ten. I took to it easily enough, but I got too excited and rushed into a gallop. I got really scared and panicked. I tried to stop the horse and lost my grip on the reins, but the horse did stop. I went flying. It hurt like crazy and I got some huge bruises on my arm and leg. I was too afraid to try again afterwards, and ran in the house crying. Dad tried to console me, but I wasn't trying to hear it. We went back and forth for weeks, him trying to get me to try again and me just refusing. Then one day…I don't know, he just got too tired of it—I think. We were in the barn, milking the cows, arguing about it again, and he just got mad. He threw down his hat, stomped on it a couple of times and hollered, 'Darn-it-all, girlie, why are ya so stub'ern. Ye'd give ya ma a run for her money, I tell ya. Just as stub'ern as she was. It just ain't sensible, ya not getting' back in the saddle. Don't ya know I fell outta the saddle mor'en my fair share when I was a young'un?! Well, I did. Plenty. Heck. I still fall outta the saddle sometimes now. Ya ma did too. But we always got right back up in'em.'…"

Malon paused. With a soft smile on her face, she took a deep breath and continued," It was the shock of hearing him talk about my mom that made me really wanna try it again. I thought about it over and over again for a few more days and finally figured that if my mom had still ridden after taking a fall, then I could too. The next morning, Dad came outside and saw me in the saddle again. He was so happy, he cried. That, even more than finally hearing something about my mom, made it worth it. He'll never admit to it, but it happened, and then I cried too."

Chuckling a bit, Malon finished up her story. She was quiet for a few moments, with her eyes trained in front of them, in the direction of her home and her father. She took a big breath and shook herself, before looking back down to Marik and grinning," More than anything now, my favorite things to do are singing and riding. I can't even imagine my life without them anymore."

Marik was quiet for a moment after Malon finished her story and then he grinned up at her and said, "I think that's cool…that your two favorite things to do are traits you inherited from your parents. It's like little pieces of themselves that they passed on to you. Thinking about it that way—don't you think it can be said that your mom lives on through you?"

Malon was speechless. For a full minute she just stared at Marik with a stunned look on her face. With misty eyes, she suddenly smiled full force and leaned down and kissed Marik's cheek.

"That's the first time anyone has ever said something like that to me. Thank you so, so much. That makes me really happy!"

"Uhhh…" Marik, blushing, just quickly averted his eyes and stammered, "…s'nothin'."

Link quirked his eyebrows. _Oh Goddess…He's completely in love with her now. Not that she can tell. Red's too dense to get it. This really will be an interesting trip._ He looked the two of them over again and felt bad for Marik. Link knew that if Marik ever wanted a relationship with Malon, he'd have to pack a serious amount of patience, and deal with a lot of frustration. Malon was oblivious to a fault. The three of them continued on their way to Lon Lon Ranch, filling the long trek with stories about Malon's mom, Marik's academy days, and Link's various adventures.

Hyrule Field was a panorama of sharp shadows and the soft orange lights of twilight by the time the trio had Lon Lon Ranch in their sights. Malon kicked Epona into a gallop and had the gate open for Link and Marik when they caught up. Malon, having been gone all day, started to rush about and immediately got into work mode. She left the guys at the door to her house and walked away with Epona in tow.

Link; being a frequent house guest at Lon Lon Ranch, turned to go straight inside. "Umm…" Marik hummed, "Shouldn't we help…or wait?"

"Nah." Link replied, "Malon's got it. While there are plenty of times I've helped out with the chores around here, it was surprisingly hard work and it took me a while to get used to how to do everything. Have you ever milked a cow?"

"Uhh…no. Definitely not."

"Then it's best to let a pro do it. Right now, Red's in work mode. She'll get her work done in no time and come inside. We'd only get in the way and slow her down right now. So, come on inside."

"But, surely there's something we can do to help? I mean, something that wouldn't get in her way?"

"Well, it's not as if I wanted us to go sit on our asses while she's working."

"Then what are we gonna do?"

Link smirked and walked into the house, beckoning Marik to follow. Glancing again in Malon's direction, Marik sighed and followed after Link. His eye caught something flying towards him and before he could process what it was, he'd already reached up and snatched it out of the air. It was a kitchen knife. Glaring dubiously down at it, he quirked his brows and looked at Link reproachfully, "You seriously can't mean what I'm thinking right now, so I'm gonna ask the obvious. Are we—seriously—cooking?"

"Wow, Marik, got it in one. And here I was thinking I'd have to give you three guesses!"

"Jeez…Seriously?!"

"You seem to like that word a lot. Yes seriously. Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving! Still, wouldn't it be better to wait? Guys can't cook!"

"Hey!" Link, affronted, threw one of his bottles at him," Speak for yourself! I happen to be able to cook quite well!"

Marik, startled, nearly dropped the bottle, "Seriously?!"

"Gah! If you say that word one more time… Look, potions can only do so much and go so far. So, when I'm out traveling, I usually cook my own food so I can save my potions for when I need them. I'd probably starve otherwise."

"You can cook? Seri—ahh…Really?!"

"…"

Link, grabbing his bottle back, walked into the kitchen and just let it drop, and then called Marik after him. He started bustling around in the pantry, throwing the ingredients he chose to Marik, explaining what he needed them for and what he needed Marik to do with them. He wanted to make something filling, but easy all at once—he decided on beef stew. It would take about an hour to make, but it would take Malon a while to finish everything on her end up anyway, so the timing worked out. After showing Marik the basics on how to chop the vegetables, Link lit the stove and started working on the meat and broth.

After half an hour, the house was permeated with the tantalizing scent of homemade beef stew. Link was just getting ready to cover the pot to let it simmer when a booming voice called out, "What in tarnation is that delicious smell? If my nose ain't deceiving me, I'd hafta say that ain't Malon down there cookin'!"

Link poked his head out of the kitchen doorway and saw Malon's father clogging his way down the stairs. Talon, a hefty man, was one of the coolest and corniest men Link had ever met; even their meeting had been something funny. Link had met Talon on his way to see Zelda for the first time. He'd been sleeping outside the palace gardens and wouldn't wake up no matter what Link tried, until Malon had given him some help in the shape of a cucco egg. The man loved Malon to death, but was also scared to death of her if he ever got her mad._ Wise of him. Red in one of her tempers is a scary thing indeed._ By the looks of him right now, he'd just gotten out of the bath.

Link waved him over and said, "As if Malon could ever make something that smells even half as good as that! You knew it was me all along!"

"Welp, a man CAN have a hope for his hopeless daughter can't he? Even after all these years of horrible dinners. I pity the man she'll marry. Speaking of which—"

"No, Talon, I will not marry Malon. When are you gonna give it up?"

"Have a heart Link. Think of my poor stomach!"

"Hahaha…no," Link replied, inwardly chuckling over the long-standing, running joke he and Talon went through every time they met. After Link had woken him up outside of the gardens, Talon had run home as fast as he could to placate Malon. When he and Link had met for the second time, he'd asked Link if he wanted to marry Malon—although he'd said he was just joking afterwards. Since then, Talon asked Link to marry Malon every time he came over. Link had always answered 'no' and made a joke of it, but he was never really sure if Talon was still joking or not.

Talon sighed heftily and took a seat at the table, grumbling all the time. Link chuckled and went back to his stew. Marik, totally confused by the conversation and the fact that the huge man who was obviously Malon's father hadn't questioned his presence yet, threw a questioning glance to Link. Link turned the stove down a little and took a seat across form Marik and picked up a deck of playing cards that were always in the middle of the table.

"You know how to play?" He asked Marik.

"Of course."

Link, dealing out to four places, cleared his throat and levelly said, "This is Talon, Malon's dad. Talon this is Marik. He's a friend of ours from Zora's Domain. Malon and I are escorting him back there because of some circumstances."

"That so..." Talon hummed.

"Yup. That's how it is."

"Nice to meet you then, Mister Marik."

"Ahh...same to you Sir," Marik stammered, thoroughly baffled by the strange tension in the air since Link had began dealing.

"So," Talon voiced, "you heard Malon sing yet boy?"

"Ahh…Yes Sir, I have."

"What do ya think about it then?"

"It's…" Marik paused and then sighed, "It's the most prettiest I've ever heard!"

Link suddenly coughed and turned his head. He needed to cover his snickering. Marik's in for it now…Link had seen this scene many times. Every time Malon brought a boy home, in fact.

"That so…" Talon hummed again.

"Yes Sir," Marik answered.

"Boy. Let me ask you this."

"Yes Sir?"

"What, exactly, are you about here?"

"…Err. Excuse me, Sir, but what do you mean 'What am I about'?"

"What he means," said Malon, who suddenly appeared leaning against the doorway; which caused everyone but Link to almost jump out of their skin, "is that he's about to grill you on whether or not you're interested in me, and—if so—what your intentions towards me are! However, this time I'm not gonna let him get away with it. So, if you'd kindly ignore my unnecessarily overprotective father…I think we'll ALL be better off" And with that she glared down at Talon intensely.

"Aww!" Link groaned loudly, "Jeez. You're spoiling it. That was gonna be funny ya know!"

"I don't care either way!" fumed Malon. "You and Dad can get your kicks some other way. I won't be embarrassed by this mess again!"

"Okay okay…calm down Red. We'll stop okay?"

"Good!" Malon stomped over and took her place around the table. Her cheeks and ears red, she crossed her arms and huffed, "How long 'till dinner's done?

"'Bout another twenty minutes. That's why I was dealing. C'mon guys, let's play!"

Talon, not looking Malon in the eyes, reached for his cards and spread his hand. He cleared his throat and stammered out, "So, Link tells me that ya'll are taking Mister Marik here back to Zora's Domain. When are ya'll looking to head out?"

Malon, picking up her cards as well, answered, "Probably right after dinner. Right, Link?"

"Hmm…" Link hesitated. "Probably, so long as we're all finished up here."

"What else would we have to do here?" asked Marik, who had gone quiet. Though he wouldn't say it out loud, this whole situation between the other three was unnerving him, and already he was looking forward to moving on. And, quite honestly, he was scared of where Talon's line of questioning had been heading; if Malon (in spite of how scary she was acting) hadn't stepped in, Marik feared he would have embarrassed himself.

"Well…" hedged Link, in reply to Marik's question," You see, Talon…We're not just dropping Marik off. Malon and I will be heading off to Castle Town after that."

"Hmmm…'zat so?" Talon narrowed his eyes to slits and glanced down the table to see Malon. The cards in her hands were twitching every other second or so—a sure-fire sign that she was not happy. Hmmm…maybe she didn't want Link to mention that portion of the trip? O'course that would mean she was plannin' to hide it from me. Hmmm… He glanced back down to the cards he had, selected two and threw them face down on the table, and then he continued, "And how long, exactly, would this partic'lar trip to Town take?"

Malon huffed, selected three cards and threw them down, then rushed out," Although-I-think-you-don't-need-to-know—seeing-as-how-you-never-bothered-about-that-before—we're-not-too-sure-ourselves-so-all-that-doesn't-really-matter-Marik?-Aren't-you-gonna-throw-down?"

Startled at his name, Marik jumped in his seat, grabbed two random cards from his hand and threw them on top of the discard pile. He glanced up through his lashes at Link and found him smirking._ Now I'm seriously nervous. What the hell is happening here? When can we leave?_ Marik was positive that the best thing to do was remain silent, but he was ready to leave and leave behind the strange tension, so he worked up his nerve and said, "Hey Link? That stew ready yet?"

"Not yet," Link drawled, "It'll be 'bout another fifteen or so."

"It smells done. How do you know it's not done yet?

"What do you mean 'it smells done'? Have you ever cooked stew before?"

"Well…no, but what could change about it in fifteen minutes? "

Link huffed and blew his bangs out of his eyes. "You just wait, in ten minutes you'll smell the difference!" That said, he laid down one card on top of the others and picked up the deck. Dealing out two cards each to Marik and Talon, three to Malon, and one to himself, he turned back to Talon and said, "What is it with people who have never cooked thinking they know so much about it? Eh?! Any ways…I think we'll be gone for some time, at least a week. A couple friends of ours are coming to visit and they might stay a bit."

"That so?" Talon hemmed.

"Yes, that's so." Malon hummed, and laid down her hand. She had a fullhouse.

Talon harrumphed and threw down two pairs. Then, as one, he, Malon, and Link turned expectantly to Marik. Marik looked down at the cards in his hand. It was the first time since he'd picked them up. Nothing. He threw them face down on the table and shrugged, "I got nothing! How 'bout you Link?" Link grinned and threw down his cards and said, "I got everything!" It was a flush; a royal one. Of spades. Marik, Talon, and Malon all groaned and huffed, and they all decided that Link wasn't worth looking at in that moment.

Malon, after a few seconds of grumbling under her breath, turned back to Link and whined, "How is it that you always,_ always_ get better hands than me? Hmm? For that matter, I've never seen you lose to anyone but Saria. What's up with that? Are you cheating?!"

Affronted, Link glared back at Malon and said, "Cheating!? I never cheat! A certain someone would have my hide if they ever found out that I did! And no, I won't be telling you who that 'someone' is. Its experience…I've been playing this game way longer than you, and with way tougher opponents than you. You learn how to play the cards in your favor after so long, even without counting or cheating…so there!"

"I still think there's something funny going on. 'Play the cards in your favor'…sure, that's it!"

"That is it. I'll introduce you to some of them sometime and you'll see."

"Yea sure. You do that," Malon grunted.

Talon gathered up all the cards and began to deal them again. They played a few more hands in companionable silence and then Link scrapped his chair back and tottered over to the stove. Marik realized that Link had been right. The stew smelled so much more delicious than it had ten minutes ago. Link dished out generous helpings to everyone and they all sat back around the center table. Talon and Malon began digging in with gusto and ate in silence. Link watched Marik surreptitiously out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to take his first bite. Link wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had quite a great deal of pride in his cooking. It always made Link especially pleased when someone new complimented the food he'd cooked, and he liked it when his food made others happy too.

Marik, with a wary look on his face, ate his first spoonful.

The spoon clattered to the tabletop. Talon and Malon both stopped with spoons halfway to their mouths and stared at Marik with matching looks of 'what's going on?' Link, thinking that Marik didn't like his cooking, bowed his head and stared at his own bowl. Then it snapped back up when he heard Marik shout, "Seriously?!"

"Fairly sure I heard Link mention somethin' 'long the lines of you usin' that word a lot, when ya'll showed up," Talon said with a grin," What's wrong, boy? Burn ya tongue?"

Marik picked up his spoon and shook his head 'no'. The spoon dipped slowly back into the stew and Marik hesitantly ate another swallow. Then another, and then another. Soon he was digging in with just as much gusto—if not more—as Malon and Talon had been. They and Link passed confused looks between themselves and tucked into their own food again, Link a little less energetically than the others. He tried to let it go, but had to admit to himself that he was disappointed and sad over Marik's reaction. The only times anyone had ever dropped their spoon or fork after tasting his food had been way back when he'd just started cooking, and never since he'd gotten the hang of it. He assumed Marik thought his food tasted badly, and was trying to hurry through it.

Marik didn't say another word until he'd slurped up the very last drippings of his bowl. When he was finished, he scrapped back his chair and stood up. Link and Malon looked up at him questioningly and Link asked," What's up?"

Marik turned to Link and rushed out, "Is there any left?! Seriously! That was the best thing I've ever eaten! The way the broth was just…yeah. And how the vegetables just—and Goddess! That meat! It just melted! How in Hyrule did you ever learn to cook like that!?"

Link grinned and said, "Most of it is years of practice, but the person who initially taught me was Sado."

"Sado?"

"Yea. She's a Kokiri like Saria. Well, only much more…eccentric?"

"What do ya mean by 'eccentric'?" questioned Malon.

Link paused, trying to think of a way to explain the oddities of Sado. It was hard. Sado was one of the few Kokiri who didn't make fun of Link when he was a child and fairy-less. She had praised him for doing things that he thought people normally wouldn't give praise for—like crossing the bridges suspended above Saria's house. She's also the one that gave him an item necessary to receive the Big Goron Sword. But, more than that, Sado taught Link what to look out for in the Lost Woods, taught him which plants were edible and which plants would eat him. Which herbs were good for which illnesses. Which route to take so as to not become lost himself. She's the one who found a Kakarikan man when he got lost in the Lost Woods. That man eventually became a Stalfos, and even though she had laughed a little eerily when she told Link what had become of him, she still kept his belongings for him.

"Sado is sort of a hard one to explain. It's like she views things differently—not in a particularly bad way—just differently. You'd probably have better luck askin' Saria to explain it," he said. He got up and refilled Marik's bowl. Marik readily began to inhale it, and the four of them passed the next twenty minutes animatedly discussing the various things Link had learned to cook over the years. Soon though, Marik, Malon, and Link began to pack it up.

"Right then, Talon," Link stated, standing up," hate to eat and run, but Marik has to get these supplies back to Zora's Domain, and Malon and I need to get over to Castle Town. There's plenty of stew left, so help yourself!"

"Yea," inserted Malon," You might wanna spread it out over the next couple of days. Like Link said, we'll be gone for some time. Also, I've prepped the barn for the long stay-away, so all you'll need to do in there is take care of the feedin' and the milkin'. Is there anything you'd like for me to bring you from town?"

Talon hemmed,"…Nah. I should hav' everythin' I need fer now. You just take care o' whatever this business is and get back quick lik'! Ya hear?"

"I hear ya. Love ya, Dad! Take care."

"Humph…luv' ya too girlie! Link," he turned and shouted," ye take good care o' my girl! Mister Marik, was a pleasur' meetin' ya!"

Marik shook his hand and said the same, and then they were off.

They all paused by the gate and Link called for a huddle. "Okay, so… Once we get out to Hyrule Field, we're gonna have to keep moving straight to Zora's Domain. Malon, sorry to do this to ya, but you'll need to carry the majority of our stuff."

Malon raised her eyebrows," Why?"

"Have you never traveled at night?"

"Nope. Why?"

"Figures. There are monsters, Red."

"What?!"

Link chuckled and patted her back," Calm down. It's just some Stalchildren."

"Not really a threat," put in Marik," but highly annoying."

"Yup," Link continued," Mostly Marik and I will be playin' crowd control. The little buggers like to pop up in front of or behind ya, and then they'll chase ya. So, I'm gonna be on point and handle the ones that pop up ahead of us, you Malon, will follow me and hold the bags, and Marik will bring up the rear and make sure that any chasing us don't catch us. Sound good?"

Malon and Marik shared a glance, and then nodded 'yes'. Link helped Malon get all their bags adjusted for maximum comfort and then they were ready. The three of them line up in order. Link drew his sword, Malon fidgeted, and Marik drew his spear. Link opened the gate and looked out over the shadowy expanse ahead of them and, seeing no signs of enemies, took the first step towards Zora's Domain.


End file.
